Bamboo Airways expects $2.7-bln market cap at listing

The carrier, which began operations in 2019, plans to list 105 million shares on either the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange or Hanoi Stock Exchange at an initial price of VND60,000 ($2.61), Bloomberg quoted its chairman, Trinh Van Quyet, as saying.

It had originally planned to list last year, but called it off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since Vietnam has contained the pandemic and began vaccination at the beginning of March, Quyet said "conditions are very favorable" for listing. The benchmark VN-Index of Vietnamese stocks has rallied 8.8 percent this year to a near three-year high.

He expects the government to lift the ban on international flights in June or July this year.

The airline last year received permission from the U.S. to operate direct flights to that country, which it plans to start in the fourth quarter of this year.

It also plans to expand its fleet from 22 to 40 aircraft this year. Quyet expects the vaccination to help revive the aviation industry in 2021.

Domestic flights have resumed in Vietnam.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc this week instructed ministries to study the use of vaccine passports and consider the resumption of international flights.

Bamboo Airways pre-tax profit rose by 34 percent in 2020 to VND400 billion. It hopes to increase its market share by 10 percentage points this year to 30 percent.